For our Halloween, we had a supervillain prom themed party, for which we designed a quartet of steampunk supervillain costumes, including "steampunk ninja", "steampunk artful dodger", "steampunk sinister major" and "steampunk professor moriarty." (for those out of the know, professor moriarty was the main villain in the sherlock holmes canon)

Like most DIYers, we tried to source all of our material from found objects, so the gears, the leather (fake, by the way), the cards, the (also fake) fur, the blasters, and the cloak were all made from things we either found while biking or had on hand. The purchases we made were minimal; extra primer, military surplus finds, and buttons. In fact, we even "found" the dancefloor and the band stage for the outdoor prom by a dumpster at a grocery store... but that's another story.

Steampunk Ninja was played by my brother Greg, and featured a hand-stitched cowl, a hand-stitched leather chest piece, a machined leather katana holster, and hand-painted buttons and nerf blaster. All of the patterns were created by me, hand stitched by me, and the blaster was hand-painted and created with the use of eyedrop bottles, spark plug wires, metal gears, twine, duct tape, and other things we found around the house. The chest piece armor was the most intensive piece of this costume, requiring a lot of tucking and re-seaming to make it fit close to the body. Each button was hand-painted from the original shiny brass, and the piece was held together with rivets and leather lacing. The cowl, similarly, required a lot of tailoring to fit flush to the skull.

Steampunk Artful Dodger was played by Elisha, who had the lucky fortune of being the only minor allowed at the prom. His costume featured repurposed tan pants, a found vest (brass buttons added), a customized top hat with found gears and marked cards, and a pair of repurposed goggles with an adjustable leather strap. Eli also brought us a blunderbuss he found in his room, which we repainted and paired with a found holster (garage finds!). The piece de resistance for Eli's costume, though, is definitely the tailcoat. This was the most labor intensive piece in the entire quartet of costumes, mostly because I had to learn how to use the sewing machine, and then come up with a pattern for a tailcoat... and because we are such dapper individuals, I had to create a pattern that would look good on a skinny 13 year old but also fit myself and my brother, Greg, so we could wear it for future events. I finished the tailcoat with fur cuffs and collar, so they could be flipped up or down to lengthen the arms, and Eli topped his costume off with a fantastic moustache and a skinny tie borrowed from his brother, who was...

Steampunk Moriarty, played by Aaron. Steampunk Moriarty was by far the simplest costume, requiring only a customized nerf blaster (also found in a trunk), a pocket watch, a crocheted bow tie, and a hand-stitched cloak, along with some of Aaron's very fancy day-to-day clothes (shiny shoes, black pants, and a pinstripe gray vest). Moriarty's costume was finished with some intensive sickly looking makeup and a top hat.

Steampunk Sinister Major was played by yours truly, with the aid of a ridiculous vinyl body suit that I've managed to use in four Halloween costumes just this year... To create this costume, I dug up a military jacket and hat from the local surplus store, spray painted them black, and tumbled them in the dryer with tennis shoes to soften them up again. I added the red trim to the hat, then used some duct tape remnants from my latest piece (which was a decoration for our supervillain party) to the cap for a more sinister look. I wore boots that I already had, covering the soles in red duct tape to match the artwork, and machine-sewed a thigh holster for my cap-gun pistol, that was hand-painted and antiqued. I also made the earrings that went with the costume, and designed the crow chest tattoo.

and here's a link to the blasters, with closer detail

anyway, I hope you all enjoy these! We had a great time putting this together. Thanks for being patient with the photo links; you can't embed images when you first join.

this is my new duct tape gallery that i made! they're 100% duct tape, with the exception of the frames and some staples. (from left to right) marilyn monroe, audrey hepburn, and elizabeth taylor, created using only duck brand duct tape. they're 1 1/2 x 2 feet each, 2 inches deep.

alas, as a new craftster poster, i have to publish a link to my picture. give it a try, i swear i am not a robot... or am i?